Living in Charleston, SC

Charleston, South Carolina is a moderately-sized city with a population of 129,888 people. If we look at the most recent Census, Charleston is known to have a predominantly White population. The next two most common races are Black and Asian. If finding a family friendly city is important to you, look no further. With more than 73% of the population considered married and 65% with kids under the age of 18, Charleston could be considered a very suitable city for families.

Whether you’re moving to a new area to be closer to family, friends or for a new job, living in Charleston could be a positive experience compared to other cities in South Carolina if you know where to look. Finding the best places to live in Charleston and nearby areas is a much easier task when you can rely on information and data from the livability score, which includes amenities, cost of living, education, employment and other important metrics.

Charleston has a livability score of 76 out of 100 and is ranked #30 in South Carolina and #4,044 in the USA. Clearly, Charleston is doing something right, as this score ranks well above the average of most cities. If we dig down a little deeper into each category within the livability score, we see that Charleston has higher than average rankings for the following: amenities (A+) and weather (B+). Charleston does not do well for the following: cost of living (F). It might be a good idea to take a closer look at each category to find out why.

There are many factors that go into deciding if an area is the right fit for your lifestyle. Certain “must haves” like low crime, great schools and nearby amenities are all at the top of most people's lists. But before even considering if those options are available, most people will need to know if the real estate in Charleston is actually affordable. Median real estate prices in Charleston come in at $269,400, which is 87.6% higher than the South Carolina average. The home price to income ratio compares the median home prices to the median household income. In Charleston, the home price to income ratio is 4.7, which is 51.6% higher than the South Carolina average. Year over year appreciation rates for homes in the Charleston area were 9.2% and the 5 year appreciation rates came in at 8.6%. Why is this important? Knowing the appreciation rates for any area is a quick and easy way to determine if you will see a solid return on your investment.

How Do You Rate The Livability In Charleston?

1. Select a livability score between 1-100

0Awful25Poor50Average75Good100Great

2. Select any tags that apply to this areaFamily friendlyPublic transit is accessibleWalkable to grocery storesYards are well-keptLots of parksWalkable to restaurantsFriendly neighborsSafe at nightPet friendlyStreets have sidewalksA quiet areaSense of communityView results

Recent Charleston Reviews

You really don’t have a food place open 24 hours? With a city this crowded?! There’s nothing to do here besides go out and drink if that’s your scene, no theme parks, no laser tag places. Rivers Ave is a good place to stumble into the wrong kinds of people. Multiple times I’ve run into some aggressive homeless people that seemed intent to take what I had simply because I wasn’t carrying cash to help them. Traffic is God awful, and the people over here for the most part are terrible. Literally the worst city I have ever lived in. Stay away if you can

Recent Charleston Forum Questions

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How long to get to MUSC from West Ashley and Mount Pleasant?If I get a place in West Ashley inside 526 and close to 17, how long is my morning commute to get to MUSC?Same question if I get a place in Mt. Pleasant, within about ten miles of Charleston?Thanks! I am going to nursing school in August and I need to get a place that will offer a reasonable commute.

MattMUSC

Jun 05, 2017

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Job and CollegeMy family wants to relocate to a coastal city and are very interested in Charleston. My question is, my husband is currently a regional truck driver but we would like him to find a local job so that he can be home with our family every night. In my searching of job sites I haven't been finding much of that job being available so I was wondering what …